Saturday, 25 March 2017

Mages, Covers and The Woes of Princes

Been a while since I last posted, but I've been busy writing so I guess I have an excuse?! In fact I've written a bit over 160K in the last month, which is something of a record even for me.

The new book, which is about 80% complete, is called "A Bitter Brew" and is another epic fantasy. But this one's a little bit different to my others. The hero is a mage, but like all those with magic in his world, he isn't called that. He's called "afflicted", and magic is considered a disease. The afflicted have become a lower class in his world, like the untouchables, and are relatively powerless. They're also easily spotted, since as part of their gaining magic, they become marked with one of seven magic metals. In Hendrick's case the metal is Mithril, and the markings run up his entire left arm.

In his world - Styrion - the afflicted aren't just shunned. They are discriminated against in law. They may not hold any office or station. They can't enter the capitol city or any Council Chamber in any other. If by chance they have a useful spell, they cannot charge for its use, and if someone in authority asks, they have to provide the magical service immediately and for free. In short they are the lowest of the low, without any hope of improving their lot in life.

The reason those with magic are so powerless is that the way they gain their magic is different to that in other books. They aren't born with a talent, and they don't learn it. Instead they pick up a fragment of magic metal, usually not knowing what it even is, and it promptly dissolves into their skin marking them for life. And then instead of acquiring (or absorbing) a whole type of magic, they only acquire a single spell. One spell per fragment. And to add to their woes, there's no telling what spell any fragment contains. It could be a useful one. It could even be a warspell. But the most likely outcome is that it will be something completely useless - the ability to grow body hair for example!

This means that most of the magical are left in their world with one or two spells which are of no earthly use to them, and marked as afflicted for all the world to see. Probably the worst of all possible situations for a spellcaster! And yet there is an even worse possibility for some. That they pick up their spells by having the fragment of magic metal touch a part of their body normally covered by clothes, so the markings are hidden. These poor souls are called witches and warlocks, and are considered to be hiding their affliction. Naturally the normal distrust people have for the afflicted is multiplied for witches and warlocks, and in fact they're often simply considered evil.

For Hendrick the situation is more complicated still. As well as being afflicted and trying to run a brewery in a small town, he is also a prince - seventeenth in line to the throne - and yet the law actually forbids him from ever assuming the throne or even setting foot in the royal city. So he's a prince in name only, and an outcast! (I so love putting my characters in difficult situations!)

Of course I couldn't leave it there - it was just too easy! So naturally I had to give him a sociopathic mother who discarded him in favour of his older, unafflicted brother, and who spends her days plotting against the other wives in the royal household. A father - the King - who sent a squad of mercenaries to kill him on the pretext of escorting him to his latest royal wedding. A brand new step-mother who isn't so much monstrous as actually a monster. And a war. Actually, several wars!

So that's where the book begins.

Anyway the book is nearly finished, and will probably head off for beta reading in the next few weeks. Meanwhile I'm at the stage of looking for book covers - which is where the image at the top comes from. I was hoping to use it, if I could get it a little modified by the artist, but thus far he has failed to respond to my message. Still it is I think a powerful image and so hopefully he'll get back to me at some point.

Meanwhile I'll leave you guys with a rather brilliant word I came across while doing my research for the book. It's a ye olde timey English word which I found and loved - Mumblecrust. And for those of you who, like me had never heard of it before, a Mumblecrust is in fact a toothless old beggar who because of his lack of teeth can't speak clearly - bit like a few politicians I can think of!

Actually no, the picture came from DeviantArt, but it fits the profile I suppose. And no, this book is nothing like any RPG I've ever played, and I don't think it would work as one if only because the plot is as usual, too complex.

Hello Greg. If they gain the power through touching magical metal, then are there clans of miners who have become afflicted? Also what determines the strength of their power? After all, even growing body hair can be a useful crowd control spell if it's powerful enough to burst forth and cover people.I'm a big fan of your work, absolutely adored Godlost Lands

Glad you like my books. Actually you don't have to mine the fragments - they are in fact the remnants of ancient wizards who stole all the magic in the world - then went to war, killed one another, and then promptly exploded. Each fragment is therefore a tiny piece of magic coupled with a piece of the ancient wizard's soul neededto cast it. As such they weigh almost nothing and are easily wind blown.

As for the strength of the cast, that's an interesting question. The afflicted aren't really wizards in the normal sense. The magic does not come from them, but rather from the piece of the ancient wizard's soul that accompanies the spell. So it determines the strength of the cast.

That's a very cool concept for a magical setting, like a cross between Branden Sanderson's Mistborn Allomancy and Luke Scull's God Killing Magi in the Grim Company.Are the Fragments lost permanently upon the death of an afflicted? I hope you don't mind me asking so much

Thanks. I wanted a magical system that was a little bit different to most I've read. Something that gave me a genuine reason why those with magic both coul be and should be looked down upon. And this seemed to work.

In answer to your question, when one of the afflicted dies, the magic is lost from them. Their markings dissappear and a new fragment - really the original one - is once more released to be blown away. The afflicted never really owned the spells they had - they just sort of borrowed them.

The books with my editor at the moment - and receiving a fair amount of abuse!!! And given it ended up at over 200K it may be a while before it comes back. But the cover is done - I may do some tinkering yet with the text, but other than that it looks great to me. You can see it on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/greg.curtis.7146?ref=ts

WELCOME

Hi, I'm Greg and welcome to my blog.

Please do make yourself at home and feel free to make comments about my posts. Down the bottom of the blog you'll find the covers of my ebooks, and with a little luck, clicking on them will bring you directly to them in Amazon, where you can read a little more about them.

Hope you have a good time and come back soon. I'll try to keep writing blogs as well as books.

Cheers.

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About Me

Hi, What can I say about me?
Well I suppose first and foremost I'm a lover of science fiction and fantasy and a little horror. I have been since I was a child and discovered among other things, Star Trek. (Yes I'm a trekkie!)
Since all I read and watch is sci fi and fantasy, that's also what I write. So please don't expect to find books on auto-mechanics. (And if you did I wouldn't trust them since I can barely hold a wrench the right way round!)
Other then that I am also a fan of philosophy, and maybe one day I'll write a book putting my views about the Kalem Cosmological Argument - it's sure to bore everyone!